Cheap Predator (Widescreen Edition) (DVD) (Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Kevin Peter Hall) (John McTiernan) Price

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Customer Reviews of Predator (Widescreen Edition)

Predator Preys On Your Sense of Adventure
"The Most Dangerous Game," to which Predator bears a remarkable resemblance is a literary classic and mandatory reading in most ninth grade English classes. So the question arises, why is that story held in such high esteem when this picture is cast aside as mindless tripe? I suppose having Arnold Schwarzenegger's name above the title and Joel Silver's in the producing credits doesn't help, but don't get me wrong I'm not suggesting this movie should have been showered with praise from critics, or awards from Academy members. But a pat on the back for one of the finest action directors working today (John McTiernan of Die Hard fame) might be nice, especially considering this film isn't nearly as dumb as people would have you to believe.

Schwarzenegger stars as the leader of an elite commando force sent into Central America to retrieve U.S. hostages being held in guerrilla hands. Little does he or anybody in his team know (with the exception of Carl Weather's character) that they're actually being manipulated into assassinating a group of Communist dissidents and thorns in the thorns in the side of the C.I.A. This is the only the first back-stabbing and leads to a quite harrowing and action packed combat sequence that wouldn't have looked out of place in Platoon or Saving Private Ryan.

While all this is going on, comsuming more than a half hour of briskly paced screen time, we still have yet to see the alien. McTiernan utilizes a clever tactic orginated (or at least to the best of my knowledge) by Steven Speilberg in Jaws by shooting from the predator's point of view. By doing this we only get glimpses of the monster, as he has the ability to turn himself invisable at will, which makes the final confrontation all the more terrifying. Also noteworthy is Kevin Peter Hall as the villainous creature who is a constant menace and manages to make a very impressive impression even though we never see his face.

For about the last hour of the movie he stalks Arnie and his rebel company, picking them off one by one as is customary in these kinds of films. To me the parrallels to "Dangerous Game" are quite obvious, simply substitute an alien in place of the hunter who preys on humans. The symbolism of the book and the movie is quite clear, or at least in my mind, and is that hunting for sport is inherently wrong. But even the predator has a code of conduct that human hunters have yet to adopt, he doesn't take advantage of another species inferiority or good nature. To me, being as I'm such an animal lover, I'd root for the alien a lot sooner than I would Ted Nugget or his band of ignorant rednecks.

Now I'm willing to concede that maybe I'm so intent on justifying my appreciateion for this film that I might be imposing onto it hidden meanings that aren't really there, but even if that is the case it does little to depreciate my enjoyment of one of the most exciting science fiction movies that I've ever seen. Sure the acting is merely adequate and the writing could use some sprucing up, especially in fleshing out the characters a little more, but the directing is superb and the finished product is about as good as anything you have the right to expect considering the genre.

And that's not to mention the special effects. Done by Stan Winston, who won recognition as being the best in his field after his work creating the digital dinosaurs in Speilberg's Jurassic Park, he does an equally impressive job here. The "creature features" never get too corny and at the same time aren't so good as to distract from the rest of the film. It's a fine line to walk and I can't think of anybody who does it any better.

This is the second four star review I've given a Schwarzenegger movie in as many months (the other being for True Lies) and I'm quietly coming back around to being a big fan of his early work for the first time since I was thirteen.

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Better than average man v. monster flick
Arnold Schwarzenegger has one of his best roles as Dutch, the leader of an elite rescue force which is called upon to rescue a cabinet minister of a friendly Latin American government who has fallen into rebel hands. Coming along for the ride is Dillon, played by Carl Weathers, who used to work with Dutch in years past but now is a CIA agent. What Dutch does not realize is that the story he has been fed by Dillon is baloney.

Predator plays like two movies in one. The first third of the film focuses on Dutch's team trying to rescue the "cabinet minister" held in an armed camp deep in the Central American jungle. The movie then changes gears when the Predator starts hunting Dutch's team.

What helps make Predator better than other films of this genre is a really good cast that complements Schwarzenegger, including Jesse Ventura as the tobacco chewing Blaine, Bill Duke as Mac (notice how he is always shaving himself even though he does not have any facial hair!), Sonny Landham as Billy, the Indian Tracker, and the beautiful Elpidia Carillo as Anna. Each character has a well defined personality that makes each one stand out.

The Predator is "one ugly...." as Dutch calls him, and it can best be described as tall creature with a crab-like face and rasta dreadlocks.

There are some minor plot flaws, for example, why did the Predator wipe out Jim Hopper's team before it could attack the rebel camp, but then waits until after Dutch's team has wiped out the camp before he hunts them? I also thought the scene when they were all firing into the jungle to be a bit excessive, but Predator is still a classic for me.

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the best alien action film out there
when I first saw the first Predator film,I was happy to see the strong male role running for his life. Yet I do think why this editions for the Alien and Predator films are coming out so close to each other is for the summers next cross over. Alien vs Predator. But to the film, the first predator was by far the best. Sending in comandos into a rain forest and each one being killed off is truly a scary sight and yet the movie is full of action. Predator is by far one of my favorit films and I will go by this film when it comes out three days before the opeaning of AVP.